New Information on the Snail Fauna of “Sinite Kamani” Nature Park (Stara Planina Mountains, Bulgaria)

ECOLOGIA BALKANICA 2015, Vol. 7, Issue 2 December 2015 pp. 87-90

Short note

Dilian Georgiev1*, Silvia Kalcheva2, Dian Georgiev2, Ivaylo Dedov3

1 - University of Plovdiv, Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology and Environmental Conservation, 24 Tzar Assen St., BG-4000 Plovdiv, BULGARIA 2 - Trakia University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Biology and Aquaculture, Stara Zagora 6014, BULGARIA 3 - Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin St., 1113 Sofia, BULGARIA *Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract. The malacofauna in the Bulgarian nature parks situated in Stara Planina Mts. is poorly known. So far only one research in the area of Nature Park “Sinite kamani” was carried out in 2008. A total of 23 species of terrestrial snails were discovered and some data on their habitats were presented, but no freshwater snails were found. The author has suggested that many other species could be found in case of future studies. In the present paper we present some new terrestrial and aquatic species discovered on the territory of the park.

Key words: protected area, Bulgaria, malacofauna.

The study was carried out in the period L. (Limacus) flavus; L. nyctelia; D. reticulatum; 20.10.2013 - 27.04.2014. Snails were hand- L. girva and H. figulina. collected or collected by using a sieve from It’s impressive that most of the species 24 different places in the park (Tablе 1). (12 of them) were discovered in coppice Species were determined mainly by forests, pure and mixed forest of Ulmus sp. DAMJANOV & LIKHAREV (1975), WELTER- with J. regia, Cornus sp. and H. lupulus located SCHULTES (2012) and a reference shell at 500 m height, outside the river valleys. collection by GEORGIEV (2013). Furthermore such an altitude it should be In the current study 23 new species of noted that refers also to grass terrain, open snails were found: 3 freshwater and 20 grass terrain among limestone and Tilia sp. terrestrial species of snails (Table 2). Till now and Fraxinus sp. forest with, wherein the there are 46 gastropod species known in the number of the observed mollusks increase up area. The present study confirmed the to 18 species. existence of 11 species of terrestrial snails. Six of the species were forund in the During the short period of the on-field mixed deciduous forests of F. sylvatica research made in 2014, the following species maesiacus and Quercus sp. in the hilly and were not found - V. pulchella; A. biplicata; foothill regions and 3 of the species in the B.urbanskii; Z. nitidus; V. neglecta; O. urbanskii; coastal forests, open grasslands and rocks.

New Information on the Snail Fauna of “Sinite Kamani” Nature Park… Table. 1. Places of collection in the NP “Sinite Kamani” used for the present study.

№ Date Coordinates Alt. Habitat 1 20.10.2013 N42 43 53.1 E26 17 54.9 806 m Carpinus betulus and Acer sp. forest 2 20.10.2013 N42 43 50.6 E26 18 03.1 845 m open bush, grass and rocky terrains 3 20.10.2013 N42 43 42.8 E26 18 08.8 837 m spring near planted coniferous trees 4 21.10.2013 N42 43 03.8 E26 15 39.8 399 m Tilia sp. and Fraxinus sp. forest 5 21.10.2013 N42 42 36.6 E26 16 14.4 426 m open grass terrain among limestone rocks 6 21.10.2013 N42 42 06.0 E26 15 56.3 309 m Ulmus sp. forest with Juglans regia, Cornus sp., Humulus lupulus 7 21.10.2013 N42 44 43.0 E26 22 04.0 1040 m bush area near a watersource 8 21.10.2013 N42 43 01.8 E26 22 00.7 944 m Fagus sylvatica forest near a watersource, watersource 9 21.10.2013 N42 43 03.6 E26 22 31.4 922 m Populus sp. trees near a building 10 21.10.2013 N42 43 03.7 E26 22 35.5 919 m small artificial pond 11 21.10.2013 N42 43 38.3 E26 18 07.2 810 m bush area 12 22.10.2013 N42 42 31.4 E26 17 25.9 521 m Quercus sp. forest near a watersource 13 29.11.2013 N42 42 54.8 E26 15 49.3 420 m rocks occupied by bush as Carpinus orientalis, Fraxinus sp., Quercus sp. 14 29.11.2013 N42 42 41.8 E26 15 39.7 300 m river bank forest dominated by Alnus glutinosa, Rubus sp., Hedera helix 15 29.11.2013 N42 42 50.4 E26 15 48.0 308 m spring near Asenovska River 16 29.11.2013 N42 42 50.4 E26 15 48.0 308 m around a spring near Asenovska River 17 29.11.2013 N42 42 53.3 E26 15 44.3 311 m grass terrain 18 19.3.2014 N42 44 15.1 E26 24 34.4 539 m Fagus sylvatica and Quercus sp. forest 19 19.3.2014 N42 43 09.6 E26 21 34.2 987 m Fagus sylvatica forest 20 19.3.2014 N42 43 06.8 E26 21 22.2 909 m Fagus sylvatica forest 21 19.3.2014 N42 43 08.0 E26 21 26.1 932 m steep limestone rocks in Fagus sylvatica forest 22 26.4.2014 N42 44 03.4 E26 21 37.4 1030 m Fagus sylvatica forest 23 26.4.2014 N42 44 16.5 E26 18 07.2 894 m open bush, grass and rocky terrains, limestone 24 27.4.2014 N42 42 17.1 E26 17 25.9 592 m Carpinus betulus and Quercus sp. forest,

Table 2. Gastropod species found in Nature Park “Sinite kamani” - locations, environmental data and conservation status (based on DEDOV, 1998 and IRIKOV & ERÖSS, 2008). Legend: lit. – species reported by GEORGIEV (2008); W - global significance; E - European significance; N - national significance; TRL – relict from the Tertiary Period; BC - Bern Convention; HD – the Habitats Directive; Rare – rare species; me - mesophiles ; me-hg – me - hygrophiles; xph – xerophiles.

Ecological groups and № Species Locality № Conservation Status Freshwater species Family Hydrobiidae 1 Belgrandiella cf. angelovi Pintér 1968 3, 8, 15 Family Limnaedae 2 Radix auricularia (Linnaeus, 1758) 10 3 Radix labiata (Rossmässler, 1835) 15 Terrestrial species Family Pomatiasidae 4 Pomatias rivularis (Eichwald, 1829) 6, 13, 16 TRL 5 Pomatias elegans (O. F. Müller, 1774) lit., 6 TRL Family Orculidae 6 Sphyradium doliolum (Bruguière, 1792) 6, 18 Family Valloniidae 7 Vallonia pulchella (O. F. Müller, 1774) lit. 8 Acanthinula aculeata (O. F. Müller, 1774) 6, 19 Family Cochlicopidae 9 Cochlicopa lubricella (Porro, 1838) 2 me Family Enidae 88

Dilian Georgiev, Silvia Kalcheva, Dian Georgiev, Ivaylo Dedov

10 Merdigera obscura (O. F. Müller, 1774) 6 me 11 Ena montana (Draparnaud, 1801) lit. me-hg 12 Zebrina detrita (O. F. Müller, 1774) lit., 5, 6, 7, 13 xph,E 13 Pseudochondrula seductilis (Rossmässler, 1846) lit., 5 me 14 Mastus rossmaessleri (L. Pfeiffer, 1846) 23 me 15 Eubrephulus bicallosus (L. Pfeiffer, 1847) lit., 18 me-xph, Rare, N Family Clausiliidae 16 Cochlodina laminata (Montagu, 1803) 18 me 17 Macedonica marginata (Rossmässler, 1835) 22 me-xph, E 18 Laciniaria plicata (Draparnaud, 1801) 6 me,E 19 Alinda biplicata = Balea biplicata (Montagu, 1803) lit. me 20 Bulgarica urbanskii Nordsieck, 1973 lit. xph,W 21 Bulgarica cf varnensis (L. Pfeiffer, 1848) 6 me,E 22 Baleinae indet. 21 23 Vitrina pellucida (O. F. Müller, 1774) 2 me-hg Family Gastrodontidae 24 Zonitoides nitidus (O. F. Müller, 1774) lit. Family Zonitidae 25 Vitrea neglecta Damjanov et L. Pintér 1969 lit. me,E 26 Aegopinella minor (Stabile, 1864) 1, 6, 20 me-xph 27 Oxychilus glaber (Rossmässler, 1838) 6, 14 me-hg, 28 Oxychilus urbanskii Riedel, 1963 lit. me, N 29 Oxychilus cf urbanskii Riedel, 1963 18 30 Oxychilus investigatus Riedel, 1993 22 me,N 31 Daudebardia rufa (Draparnaud, 1805) 1 me-hg Family Arionidae 32 Arion silvaticus Lohmander, 1937 19, 24 me Family Limacidae 33 Limax maximus complex Linnaeus, 1758 lit., 8 me 34 Limax (Limacus) flavus Linnaeus, 1758 lit. me ,N 35 Lehmannia nyctelia (Bourguignat, 1861) lit. me Family Agriolimacidae 36 Deroceras turcicum (Simroth, 1894) 1, 6, 14, 18 me 37 Deroceras reticulatum (O. F. Müller, 1774) lit. me Family Lindholmiolmiolinae 38 Lindholmiola girva (Frivaldsky, 1835) lit. xph, E Family Hygromiidae 39 Xerolenta obvia (Menke, 1828) lit., 5, 17 xph, E 40 Perforatella incarnata = Monachoides incarnatus (O. F. Müller, 1774) lit., 18 me 41 Monacha cartusiana complex (O. F. Müller, 1774) lit., 4 me- xph 42 Monacha carascaloides (Bourguignat, 1855) 17 me- xph Family Helicidae 43 Cattania balcanica (Kobelt, 1876) 20 lit., 11, 12, 14, 44 Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758 xph-me, E 16 Corine, IUCN, BC, 45 Helix pomatia Linnaeus, 1758 lit., 7, 9 HD,E 46 Helix figulina Rossmässler, 1839 lit. me, N 47 Cepaea vindobonensis (Férussac, 1821) lit., 6 xph

Totally 13 snail species were identified The main features of the malacofauna in in habitats placed near water basins and the park are determined by the typical coastal forest areas. 11 species were found in mesophilic and mesophilic-xerophilic the rest of the park - more specifically in the representatives - a total of 35 species of deciduous forests of the hilly and high terrestrial snails. 11 xerophilic and calciphilic regions. species were discovered in the

New Information on the Snail Fauna of “Sinite Kamani” Nature Park… grassland habitats, open forests and rocks DEDOV I. 1998. Annotated check-list of the which are typical for the park. Bulgarian terrestrial snails (Mollusca, The most widely spread terrestrial snail Gastropoda). - Linzer Biologische species are the Z. detrita, D. turcicum and H. Beiträge, 30(2): 745-765. lucorum, which were discovered in four GEORGIEV D. 2008. The terrestrial snails of NP habitat types and among the aquatic snails “Sinite Kamani”- habitat distribution these are - B. cf. angelovi, P. rivularis and A. and conservation importance. - In: minor which were registered in three Velcheva I., A. Tsekov (Eds.). habitats. Anniversary Scientific Conference of With regard to its conservation value, Ecology, Proceedings, 1 November 2008, the malacofauna in the Natural Park "Sinite Plovdiv, pp. 136-146. (In Bulgarian). kamuni" has a significant diversity. Between GEORGIEV D. 2013. Contribution to the the 46 species of freshwater and terrestrial Knowledge on the Gastropod Fauna of snails discovered in the park, 17 have the Natural Park “Balgarka” (Stara important conservation significance. Seven Planina Mts., Bulgaria). - Ecologia species have importance at national level. Balkanica, 5(2): 103-105. These are P. rivularis, P. elegans, O. IRIKOV A., Z. ERÖSS. 2008. An updated and Investigates, O. urbanski, L. flavus, H. figulina annotated checklist of Bulgarian and E. bicallosus. The last species is pretty terrestrial gastropods (Mollusca: rare for our fauna and O. urbanski, L. flavus Gastropoda). - Folia Malacologica, 16(4): and H. figulina are tertiary relics. Nine of the 199-207. species like Z. detrita, M. marginata, L. plicata, WELTER-SCHULTES F.W. 2012. European non- Bulgarica cf varnensis, V. neglecta, H. lucorum, marine mollusks, a guide for species L. girva, H. pomatia and X. obvia have identification. Planet Poster Editions, importance at European level and two of Göttingen, 674 p. them - B. urbanski and V. neglecta (Bulgarian endemic species) have importance for the world natural heritage.

Acknowledgements Authors are grateful to Alexander Metchev (NGO “Green Balkans”) for his cooperation during the present study.

References DAMYANOV S., I. LIKHAREV. 1975. Terrestrial snails (Gastropoda terrestria), Fauna Received: 01.12.2015 Bulgarica 5, Marin Drinov Publ., Sofia, Accepted: 10.12.2015 425 p. (In Bulgarian).